Richard Garrett Helmig, 73, of Wilton died peacefully at his home on Monday, March 31, 2014.
Gary, as he was always called, was born on September 21, 1940 in Dayton, Ohio and was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a Master's degree in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. After 25 years he retired from IBM as Director of Business Evaluation for the Data Processing Group. He joined Soundview Technology Group as Managing Director of Research retiring in 2004. He was married for nearly 51 years to his beloved wife Nancy Quinn Helmig.
Gary's passion was sailing. As a child he learned to sail on his parents sailboat that they raced on Lake Erie. At MIT he was on the sailing team for all four years. He purchased his first boat in 1981 and joined Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport. Along with his two sons, Rick and Tim, they raced extensively on Long Island Sound winning multiple club and 40 Class championships, Block Island and Edgartown Race Weeks and the Vineyard race. Gary and Nancy spent much of every summer cruising Long Island Sound with annual longer trips to Maine, Nova Scotia and the Chesapeake Bay area. They often could be found on the mooring they shared in Port Jefferson. Long Island. During the winters, for 20 years, they chartered a sailboat in the Caribbean for vacations with family and friends. Sailing in the British Virgin Islands was a favorite destination.
He also enjoyed skiing, with many family vacations spent at the resorts in New England, Europe and the Rocky Mountains. In retirement, Gary and Nancy frequently traveled to interesting and historical locations around the world and achieved his bucket list goal of visiting all seven continents.
Gary was Mr. Fix-It, a jack-of-all-trades, repairing, rebuilding anything not working properly in a house, automobile or boat and taught his children these skills as well. He was an avid learner, constantly reading and challenging himself.
In addition to his wife he is survived by his three children: Rick and his wife Carina of New Canaan; Tim and his wife Laura and their two children Elizabeth and Quinn of Newtown; Elizabeth Baldwin and her husband Matt and their two children Lindsey and Abbey of Westport. He enjoyed having his children living near by so that he could see them frequently.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Cedar Point Yacht Club on Saturday, May 3rd at 11:00 a.m. Memorial gifts may be made to Whittingham Cancer Center, Norwalk Hospital, 34 Maple Street, Norwalk, CT 06850.